Suntory Holdings Ltd.’s $13.6 billion purchase of U.S. spirits company Beam Inc. is the latest example of Japan Inc.’s continuing appetite for overseas deals. It also demonstrates the financing power of Japanese banks.

The Osaka-based beer and soft-drink maker plans to fund the all-cash deal for the second-largest U.S. maker of whiskey behind Brown-Forman Corp. with cash and about Y1 trillion in loans from Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ. According to people familiar with the matter, Suntory will use around Y600 billion in cash on hand, and a bridge loan of about Y1 trillion from BTMU Read More »

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Japan Real Time is a newsy, concise guide to what works, what doesn’t and why in the one-time poster child for Asian development, as it struggles to keep pace with faster-growing neighbors while competing with Europe for Michelin-rated restaurants. Drawing on the expertise of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires, the site provides an inside track on business, politics and lifestyle in Japan as it comes to terms with being overtaken by China as the world’s second-biggest economy. You can contact the editors at japanrealtime@wsj.com